5 comments about Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture (The Addison-Wesley Signature Series).

1. As a newcomer to enterprise architecture this book educated me on possibilities for decisions to be made in designing an enterprise architect. It will also give you a language for describing existing characteristics of an existing enterprise application which may use some combination of the patterns describe in this book. The discussion of where to keep session state for a webapp was particularly helpful to me.



2. For me, this book is an invaluable reference for building business apps.
   
   Want help choosing a framework? Want some guidance for solving common business problems? These patterns help solve these kinds of problems.
   
   NOTE: I have tried to find other sources for these patterns, and I have only found Fowlers website, which is really only a summary and recommends purchasing the book.
   
   This book has examples in both Java and C#. You can certainly use these patterns in .NET.
   
   Under .NET you are not actually forced to use the Table Model. I think the purpose of this book is to help you realize this.
   
   There are frameworks for .NET that use the Domain Model and Data Mapper patterns, but you would never know this unless you were familiar with the patterns in this book.
   
   For me, reading this book didn't allow me to write new code, but it did allow me to understand my choice to use a particular framework/technique over another.



3. This is a must read book if you are a developer, architect or in anyway related to technology.



4. Even if you don't do "Enterprise Application" development, this book is a must have in your library. If you have been developing for more than a couple of years and you haven't seen 1/2 of the patterns in this book, then you are probably doing something wrong and this book could greatly help you.
   
   Even if you do know 1/2 or more of the patterns in this book it is a great reference to the details of these patterns. Unless you are a Sophomore Software Engineering Student I'd recommend this book over the GoF book. Gof is a must have too, but if you can only have one. Get this one!



5. This book is a complete beginner's handbook for enterprise patterns.
   
   1) The "Mapping to Relational Database Patterns" section discusses patterns that are completely intuitive. I recall logically coming to this conclusions when I started programming in Visual Basic in 99. Nothing new in this section.
   
   2) The "Concurrency" section is criminal in nature and assumes that the application runs on high-cost server. Process-per-session? Thread-per-request? Come on!! Has the author missed out on the Reactor, Proactor and Active Object patterns (he does reference ACE but only as a reference). These patterns have been recognized as not scalable in the late 90s.
   
   3)The distribution patterns are clearly incomplete and desire a lot of details.
   
   If you're just starting out,as a System Architect :-), you'll find this useful. Otherwise, use MSDN or ACE for enterprise patterns.

5 comments about Dreamweaver CS3 Bible.

1. I ordered this book for it's coverage of the new Spry Ajax features of Dreamweaver CS3. Having used the three previous versions of DW for nearly 10 years, I was not looking for an introduction to DW, but more for an encyclopedic reference to look up and deal with specific situations and coverage of new features. So far I have found the Bible to be very good for these purposes. Subjects are easy to find using the table of contents and index and, once found, topic coverage is clear and full of usage/code examples.
   
   As I said, I am far from being a DW newbie who needs introduction to the basics of the software so I have not spent much time in the introductory chapters of the book. I have, however, loaned the book to a co-worker who is new to the product. She indicated that the Bible author's writing style and liberal use of figures and examples made the content easy to understand and she feels that her DW expertise has been pumped up dramatically by her exposure to this book.
   
   This is a good, well-organized resource both for the experienced developer and the web development novice.



2. I started CS3 using the all-in-one CS3 book for Dummies. It was a very good overview of the entire suite that helped get me going, but it wasn't long before I needed more detail. That's where this Bible comes in. I haven't read it cover-to-cover yet, but the individual sections provide the additional detail to take the frustration out of new tasks. I find this much more useful than the on-line Adobe articles. It would be nicer if the illustrations were in color, but that would also make the book much more expensive, so it's not a bad tradeoff.



3. This book, while daunting in size, is very accessible and contains everything you need to know about Dreamweaver CS3. I'm a designer, comfortable coding CSS/HTML but pretty green when it comes to things like XML and Spry. Other Dreamweaver books I looked at didn't have anything I didn't already know...so I knew they were lacking in a big way. This book takes you through every nook and cranny and when compared to others its astounding how glaring their shortcomings are and much more is in here. While you probably won't lay in bed reading this giant book it is by far the best and only book to consider for Dreamweaver. For me its serving as a springboard to learn other technologies/languages, so I'd have to say you'll learn a lot even beyond Dreamweaver. Covers the subject matter thoroughly and teaches you so much more...they didn't have to bother writing any other Dreamweaver books. This is the one.



4. Just speaking from one who does not build websites for a living. I purchased Dreamweaver to build our own company websites. We have used primarily Frontpage in the past for our basic websites, despite it's obvious limitations. So obviously there is a steep learning curve towards learning Dreamweaver. We are fairly competent with computers, but the biggest problem we have with this book is that it is so wordy. This book is over one thousand pages long, and the first one hundred pages do little more than describe Dreamweaver's features and attributes, without getting into any of the meat of how to actually run the software. Time is a limited commodity for us, and we don't need to wade through a thousand page book to find our answers.
   I would agree that this is an excellent reference book, and I would recomend purchasing it to improve your web design capabilities, once you're already familiar with Dreamweaver. But I would prefer to see the big picture first. That is, I would rather learn the basics first, on how to run Dreamweaver, then learn about all of it's intricacies later.
   So I would recomend this book as the second Dreamweaver book to read, if you are new to Dreamweaver. The first one should be more basic and more to the point.



5. Aside from the obvious, that it has nothing whatsoever to do with THE Bible, it's quite dry and un-informing. I'm unable to get much from the book; other than "history of the web" type stuff. Buy at your own risk.

5 comments about ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (Programmer to Programmer).

1. This book is a great example of how to utilize VS 2005/Web 2.0 principles. There are a few components you can rip right out and utilize for other sites, it is a great addition to anyone's toolbox.



2. Even in the books preface, it says it's not a book for beginners. It's geared more toward asp.net developers that have at least dabbled in design using Visual Studio. The book is more or less one big practical example. I recommend it for the novice+ developers of ASP.NET.



3. The web site that this book creates by the end is a great example of a content management system. I don't get to program often, so seeing an implemented version of a 3-tier web site is valuable. The example in this book goes a long way to show (not just tell) why 3-tier design can be so beneficial. Lots of other great examples too that you would have a tough time finding in on-line forums, such as caching and paging directly from the database. I liked the extra touch of the last chapter, which provides the minute details for publishing your site to web server. All the examples are in c# only, which is the language that I prefer anyway.



4. This is one of the best software books I have read. The explanations are clear. There is a complete example for every step. He doesnt skip steps. His explanations are not verbose. His language is straighforward - I have yet to find a place where he uses "leverage". The text is written in VB which is not my first choice but the listings are all on disk in both VB & C# so I just browse the C# examples in Visual Studio as I read.
   
   This is NOT a beginners book. To benefit from this book, you must be proficient in VB or C#, OOP and events, know something about web pages, html, CSS etc and have a rudimentary understanding of databases. He does spend a fair amount of time explaining database interaction so this book would serve as a tutorial on SQL queries and connection strings. I expect too that experts in ASP classic would be bored by this book and find its pace too leisurely. I am a software developer with just a bit of experience in web technology and this book really hit the mark.
   
   Neither is this a reference book - although he does go into a lot of detail, the material is organized and chosen for instruction.



5. Nice book for website design and development. Author has done an excellent job explaining how to use DAL and BLL. I would recommend this book to anyone doing the web development.

5 comments about Advanced Windows Debugging (The Addison-Wesley Microsoft Technology Series).

1. Have you ever tried to debug a problem in a productive environment? Do you know how hard this can be, especially when you are not allowed to install or use your full Visual Studio environment? Or did you ever try to debug a problem which only happens at the customer's side? This book shows you how to do all of this, and much more. It shows you, for example, how to create and use a memory dump and how to set up and use remote debugging.
   
   And this is a very concentrated book. It covers a very wide area of expertise. It is an indispensable companion for every real world programmer. It explains in detail some of the lesser-known areas of programming infrastructure, like stacks and heaps and the RPC (DCOM) infrastructure, the possible error symptoms and their analysis.
   
   Did you know about the powerful tools in the Debugging Tools for Windows package? This book begins with an introduction to these tools. It shows you how to set up and use them. It introduces you to the user-mode and kernel-mode debuggers, the Global Flags, the Application Verifier and many other tools. All of them are available for free. And you can easily give them to your customers or to the IT department of your productive environment.



2. The focus is on debugging using tools other than Visual Studio. There is still a lot of useful information about other tools, but if you want to learn how to debug with the Visual Studio debugger, this is not the book to get.



3. A very good hands on book with many gems of knowledge. It walks you through the processes of different debugging techniques with easy to follow screen shots. I definitely recommend this to anyone writing Windows OS dependent code and it is even a very good book to read even if you are a .Net or Java developer on the windows platform. Even if you consider yourself advanced in this area you will still find a few new tricks.



4. Chapters on debugging heap/stack corruptions are simply invaluable. Worth reading even if you think you know everything about those issues, this book will easily prove you wrong.



5. This book has completely smashed every possible expectation I had when I set out to read it.
   
   Let me put it simply. There comes a time in every software developers' life when he contemplates the age old question of, "If I were to be stranded on an island and I could bring only 3 things with me, what would they be?" Well, this would be one of the 3 items. (The other two would be Windows Internals by Russinovich and some other obvious classic like the Windows via C/C++ by Richter, or UNIX Network Programming by Stevens). This book is easily on the same playing field as such classics as those, and its only flaw is that it is not 1,000 pages because when a book like this comes along, you really just don't want it to end. There is so much useful information in here.
   
   The chapter on LPC debugging is worth the price of the book alone, as LPC is completely undocumented and you literally will not find this type of information anywhere else. Every single chapter in this book is filled with gems, and with the plethora of average books being released recently, it really took me by surprise to read such a well thought out book that hits all the right topics in all the right ways.
   
   That being said, it is advanced. Yes, I realize the title says it, but too many books come out with the word Advanced in the title that are merely Intermediate. You need some assembly language, you need to be comfortable with native code, you need to not be frightened at the thought of debugging something for which you have no source code. But for those that meet the pre-requisites, this is a must-have in every sense of the word for the serious developers' bookshelf.

5 comments about Microsoft Windows Internals (4th Edition): Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000.

1. An excellent coverage of the Windows architecture. Very strong on using tools to examine the state of a machine, from the kernel debugger to the many tools written by one of the authors. Of course, Windows being closed-source, it isn't possible to show any of the source code (or pointers thereto) that allow us to see what really happens under the hood.



2. This book does a good job of walking you through the internals of threads, synchronization, memory, and the IO manager. However, it does NOT cover bus-related driver technologies (PCI, USB, 1394, ...). A good book to understand the Windows core, but I would have liked some USB and PCI internals to help driver developers produce higher quality USB and PCI drivers. A "theory" book that I will read once and refer back to infrequently. After reading it once, you can find much of what you need in the WDM header files or WinDBG.



3. I think the thing that's impressed me the most while reading through this book is just how hellishly complicated these operating systems really are - the number of situations that they have to handle - things they have to take into account - and the co-operation, co-ordination, and communication between the varies components is nothing short of phenominal.
   
   So to have a hope in hell of getting to grips with a beast like this, one really needs to start with solid foundations & accurate overviews - and that's what this book does. In fact, I believe that it's "standard issue" for new Microsoft employees. From the solid-foundation, the book branches out into all of the major areas that you'd expect.
   
   In all honesty it's NOT a "casual read" for anyone just getting into the IT "game", but for those (programmers, IT consultants, Network Engineers) who make the effort to digest it's contents, the payoff will be a MUCH deeper understanding of what's going on "under the hood" - information I've already put to good use in solving a relatively bizarre issue relatively quickly.
   
   I suspect that for many who's livelihood comes from working in these kinds of areas, the return on investment would come PDQ.



4. As a former Microsoft technical lead who was a part of the "core" Enterprise server support team I will tell you that this is the one book that is (still) handed out to all new members of our team!
   
   Within Microsoft server support this book is the architecture "bible".
   
   Also David and Mark's elegant shareware tools were also the only 3rd party tools that were sanctioned for recommendation to Microsoft customers.
   
   This book is the defacto standard for all things relating to Windows architecture. Not always an easy read, but if you are persistent and just keep re-reading (which is what I had to do for a long time!) eventually it will sink in, and when it does you will understand (and appreciate) Windows on a very low level.
   
   Highly recommended!
   
   Vic Rozumny
   
   btw- MS recently bought sysinternals and you will be redirected when you go to the site. Congrats guys.



5. Maybe half of the world is using Microsoft windows, administering, troubleshooting etc. Everybody know how to click(and maybe know which one) the checkbox, but less than 0.1% knows what is hapening inside, "deep in the water". How data is passed from your program too network interface, or to disk drive? This book will giva many answers, but not all. And unfortunately, as I know, maybe this book is the only one in the world about this subject(if I am wrong, please correct me). It is not an easy reading, you have to know something more about operating systems to understand it. But to cover most of the windows, it should have 2 volumes and 2000 pages. I kindly ask Mr Russinovich and Microsoft to publish more book like this.
   This book is not about active directory or how to recipes. It is about kernel, I/o subsistem, memory, etc. Read the content(search inside). About windows inside, i know only one other book, Inside windows storage, but this is about only one segment of windows, and not so deep.(but also good read for "brave" sysadmins)

5 comments about Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 Administrator's Companion.

1. If this companion where a living entity, I would kick it off my team.
   
   Having an O'Reilly safari account I read through it and was very disappointed in that it doesn't cover some of the basic functionality that might be expected from a companion.
   
   As for the hype, don't buy it to it!



2. The sheer amount of information presented in this volume is impressive in and of itself. The depth and quality of coverage into the many topics varies, and there's no one topic covered in totality, but this is the "one" book. English et al. nailed coverage across topics i.e. in scope and breadth. This is certainly not the book for beginners; there is a degree of basic SharePoint knowledge assumed, and you'll need to go elsewhere for deeper developer discussion (e.g. Pattison and Larson) or specifics on administration (various blogs). But if you're to make a career out of SharePoint 2007, you'll need most if not all of the information that's contained in this book. It's nice to have it in one reference.



3. This book is geared toward readers such as Web Developers, Information Management / Compliance Specialist, Administrators to name but a few. If you are a beginner to Sharepoint Server 2007, this book will be a most difficult read. The concepts and topics that are presented will have to be re-enforced with online research or the purchase of another book.
   
   To give an example.
   The book is composed of six sections, with the first three ( 663 pages in length ) being targeted towards administration and configuration. However, within this mix we have presentations on performance monitoring and MOM 2005, high level discussions on information security policies such as password and storage policies, data classification. We are introduced to advanced Enterprise topics such as the Business Data Catalogue and records compliance ( that is the Sarbanes Oxley Act etc. ). These discussions all assume prior expertise and should you be new to Sharepoint Server 2007 this will no doubt frustrate you. The Authors, in their quest to appeal to a wide variety of readers, cannot delve into the in-depth explanations, followed up by well worked out examples that a beginner to Sharepoint Server 2007 would require.
   
   Web Developers will tend to focus on Sections 5 and 6. While these sections do introduce Workflow Services, Webparts and products like Sharepoint Designer I found the overriding theme is again one of high level discussion and overviews. Expertise is assumed.
   
   Overall I would say that if you are coming from a background with some expertise in Sharepoint Server 2003 or you require a high level picture of the abundance of features that Sharepoint 2007 can bring to your organisation in addition to how it integrates with other server platforms, such as ISA 2006 for example, you will enjoy this book and the nuggets of useful information it provides. The writing style is not engaging; this book is not a joy to read but it will tell you what can be done with Sharepoint Server 2007, outline best practices and point you in the correct direction. The how-to part is very much left to yourself.
   
   If however, your goal in purchasing this book is an in-depth knowledge of the installation, administration and configuration of Sharepoint 2007 and you have no prior expertise with Sharepoint Server 2003 or indeed 2001, then you will gain little benefit from this book. You will find it difficult to read, difficult to digest and your understanding of Sharepoint 2007 will not improve. If anything, you may be discouraged from using Sharepoint Server 2007 which would be a shame as the product is in my opinion really good. Regards.



4. This book covers most of what an administrator needs to know, very acurate information. I use this book all the time for reference because you can't retain everything that's in this book, it's a great tool for studying for MS Exams.



5. Useful reference and the eBook (pdf) has been invaluable. Unfortunately, the pdf is locked which restricts copy/paste (which would be great for documentation). This booke is not a sit down and read from cover to cover, but a go to book for research/reference.

3 comments about Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Inside Out.

1. This is a good all around guide. This is a book designed for outlook beginners. Also touches on some more advanced topics. This is not an all in 1 guide for outlook 2007 but summarizes many things well.



2. MS Office Outlook 2007 Inside Out easily maintains the high standard of usefulness of the Inside Out series. I found this volume very helpful when installing Outlook 2007.



3. The book is extra ordinary, easy to use and as detailed as you desire to go. In addition it offers a CD-ROM with an array of goodies. For me the print templates were of great value. I can highly recommend the title as you will find an answer for almost anything related to Outlook.

5 comments about C# 3.0 Design Patterns.

1. I bought several copies of this book to teach my development team design patterns. I have a copy of and like the Head First design patterns book, but my guys wanted to learn some of the new C# 3.0 features and judging from the other reviews I thought this would be a decent book.
   
   Boy was I wrong. Do not trust the positive reviews. The examples and coresponding code samples are flat wrong. I don't mean code won't compile, I mean they don't teach the purpose of the design patterns or blatently defeat the pupose of them. I am only up to chapter 3 and I am having to create cheatsheets that show how the patter REALLY should work. If anyone is reading this and really wants to learn the design patterns, I would recommend the Head First or the original Gang of Four books. Beware, if you don't know design patterns and use this to learn you will be shooting yourself in the foot.



2. As with all books on patterns, I had high expectations from this book. I was really hoping that the author would have introduced new patterns utilizing new 3.0 language features that I have not yet thought of on my own, but was disappointed to see that the book is mostly another poorly written book on design patterns that happened to use C#.
   
   After realizing that the book was what it was, I was hoping that she would have done something a bit on the cutting-edge side of things by fusing new C# 3.0 language constructs and design patterns, but again, disappointed. The application of C# 3.0 features throughout the book seemed to be more of a showcase ("hey look what I can do") as opposed to practical or necessary.
   
   If you understand that this book is just another patterns book and doesn't introduce new patterns or really take advantage of new C# 3.0 language features, this book is ok. On a positive note, the book is a simple read. But if you're looking for a really solid book on patterns for the bookshelf, the gang of four patterns book (1994) is still the way to go.



3. This book was poor. The source code has errors. It does a poor job at explaining the issue a pattern is attempting to address. Made me very sleepy. If you want a good primer get "Heads Up Design Patterns", if you want more get the GOF book.



4. Lets face it design patterns are something that we have to have but at the same token are usually difficult to understand where it should be used and how to create it. With design patterns C# 3.0 By Judith Bishop we have a little more help.
   
   From structural patterns to Behavorial we can all feel a bit better in designing our tiers for robustness and making things just a slight more easier on ourselves. When i had to create a protected class for an application that i was working on. I had difficulty creating protecting it from instantiation with the guidance in this book i was able to complete the application in less time and focus on other areas of code that needed improvements. I also found use for the decorator pattern, while i will admit some patterns in the book seem like a lot of work to include in an application Bishop makes the case for each one and also describes situations where patterns may be become anti pattern for example using the Singleton pattern to hold static information as a global variable.
   
   Overall, the quality of this book is top notch (figures since it is a O'reily book) and offers many sections on how to enhance your coding practices to make best of your limited time and also of your program. The examples in the book are superb and offer a introduction to what i feel is one of the more complex ways of designing a program. It also has a fair bit of UML diagrams and is "decent" practical guide to also adhering to UML based designs.
   
   Something though i wish they had in this book were more samples, at times there seems to be decent coverage on some of the easier patterns (singleton) and not so much on the more convoluted patterns like Model View Controller. While she does try to create a balanced ground sometimes, i have to re-read the section because she gets to technical sometimes. I guess with time and over the years her thoughts should become more clear.
   
   - Mike



5. Overall, the book seemed pretty useful. Some of the patterns covered in the book are probably rarely used in the real world, but others are design patterns that we use as software developers pretty constantly without realizing it. Getting a formal definition of what those are, and all the different parts involved ... as well as when it is a good idea to use it or what other pattern might be a better fit really offers some value. It was a pretty short book, so I thought it was worth the investment of time to read it.

5 comments about Head First Software Development (Brain-Friendly Guides).

1. Head First Software Development is another home run from the Head First series. I have bougth the HTML/CSS, Design Patterns, Object-Oriented Analysis & Design, and now this book. These "Brain-Friendly Guides" are such wonderful learning tools packed with great information, and so much fun to read. Keep them coming!



2. The way this book is writen is just fantastic. Wonderful book to LEARN how to develop GOOD software.



3. I've been eyeballing the Head First books for a while, specifically the Java and Object-Oriented Analysis & Design. I don't program in Java and I think I understand OOP very well. Because of this, the Head First structure looks to offer a bit less structure - so a good "read as you can" book.
   
   I got this title in a raffle. I'm glad I did. It whetted my appetite for more Head First. Not so much for the content (Which I will review further down) but because it's almost like reading a comic book. Easy, entertaining and something my busy dizzy mind could readily grasp in small chunks. I will probably get another Head First book in the future. Probably more than one.
   
   As for the content of this book, it was well laid out and for someone new to the concepts of formal software design, it was nice to see all the little pieces come together. I did have a hard time with the Java specific environment, but I guess it would be a much larger book if they covered other systems. The steps were clear, some of them a smidge corny, but most of them logical.
   
   After having read this, I was inspired to put it to use. That's when it hit me. I can't see this working unless the entire development group reads the book - or they were all newbies. Well I can see it, just not in the places I've worked.



4. Although I was initially put off by the non-serious cover and gimmicky premise, I decided to trust to O'Reilly and give this book a try. That turned out to be a great decision!
   
   Be forewarned that the real title should be "Head First AGILE Software Development," so don't expect other methodologies, but it definitely delivers. Whether you're just beginning to take the plunge into agile development, or you've been sort of trying to do it for a while but don't have a real clear picture of your goal, this is a great book for you.
   
   However, if you've been developing agilely for a while, then what you'll find here isn't much more than a refresher course or reminder of how you should be doing things.



5. I first lend this book from collage developer an have read with great enthusiasms and finally ordered my own copy of this book.
   The book gives detailed information on how to developing software from scratch, taken you by hand and leading you de hole way step by step.
   With the different way to present the information en with lot of illustrations its newer a boring read.
   
   Anders Kjaer
   
   [...]

5 comments about FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual.

1. It's been years since I used Filemaker, and then only as a database user...not the creator of the application. So when I set out to create a new FM database solution for a small private school I needed help! The tutorial provided with Filemaker9 is VERY basic and the application's "Help" tool is very thin. (I finally stopped clicking on it when search after search yielded no real help at all.)
   
   I picked up a copy of the Missing Manual hoping it would save my neck. I found that I already knew the material in the first half of the book, which was actually comforting. It was the second half where I found the help that I needed to make my FM solution do what I wanted it to do. The Missing Manual is well written by real humans...even with a bit of a sense of humor thrown in. And downloadable files on the Missingmanuals.com site make it easy to learn through hands-on exercises.
   
   I'm now rockin' & rollin' on my new database application! FileMaker is a powerful tool and the Missing Manual has helped me to unlock its secrets! A few dollars very well spent!



2. One of the first things that I noticed about "FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual" is it's size. It's a big, heavy book, clocking in at 778 pages. But there is a good reason for this: This book covers a lot -- and I mean a LOT -- of ground. As such, it has something for everyone. From newcomers to veteran developers, you're bound to find something new here. So don't let it's size scare you away!
   
   Written by Geoff Coffey (of Six Fried Rice fame) and Susan Prosser (president of dbhq, a FileMaker certified consulting firm based in Gilbert, Arizona), FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual is part of a series of books published by Pogue Press. Like other books in the series, it is very well written, and is presented in a way that allows a lot of information to be presented without overwhelming the reader.
   
   The book is divided into seven parts. Part One provides a good introduction to FileMaker Pro and is a good start for FileMaker newcomers. Part Two covers layouts, including all of the tools that are available to us in layout mode. Part Three dives into relational databases, with information on modeling, relationships, table occurrences, data tunneling, and more.
   
   Part Four deals with calculations, and does a good job of explaining topics that can be hard to grasp, including the Self function, the Let function, and variables. The "Power User Tip" in this section is one of the best examples that I've seen yet on how to put the Let and Self functions to good use. It shows how to use these functions, and a few others, to clean up and format a user-entered phone number.
   
   FileMaker users who have yet to automate their databases with scripts will find Part Five of FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual especially useful. Everything from script basics and how to use ScriptMaker, to advanced scripting techniques, is covered. The information presented about script parameters is especially informative. Readers will learn how to pass multiple parameters to a script, as well as how to pass parameters to subscripts. Script variables, and error handling techniques, are also covered.
   
   Part Six covers FileMaker security and integration. Readers will learn how to use FileMaker's built-in security model to protect their databases. In terms of integrating Filemaker, this section explains how to share data in FileMaker databases with other systems, and vice versa. The authors do a great job of introducing what many believe to be one of the most compelling new FileMaker features: External SQL Sources (or "ESS"), which was introduced in FileMaker Pro 9. Rounding out Part Six are terrific explanations of some of the developer utilities that are only available in FileMaker Pro Advanced. Copying and pasting database structures, the script debugger, the data viewer, the database design report, tooltips, custom menus, and more are covered.
   
   And finally, Part Seven includes two helpful appendixes. Appendix A, "Getting Help," offers a good review of other places that developers and users can turn to when they run into trouble. Appendix B provides a list of FileMaker Error Codes.
   
   At a list price of $34.99, FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual is a smart, affordable investment for any FileMaker user or developer. Reading the book is like taking a crash course in FileMaker Pro development. Read it, and your FileMaker skills are sure to benefit!



3. Pros:
   
   - The writing style is accessible and easy to understand
   - You can download the database examples used in the book.
   - It's the best FileMaker Pro 9 book I've seen.
   
   Cons:
   
   - Like a lot of computer books out there, this one is unnecessarily wordy. The publisher said, "I need a 750-page book," and the author complied.
   
   -And you gotta read ALL of it (especially beginners), because important information is distributed like buried treasure.
   
   - The wordiness and lack of consistent structure makes it easy to get lost. Let me give you an example:
   
   This is my first stab at FileMaker Pro. The first chapter shows you how to find records. It starts out nicely with bolded text showing the steps to perform a find. Then it gets wordy. And then it shows a few figures of what you will see. Huge paragraphs of smaller, italicized text accompany the figures.
   
   I skipped the figures and went on. Suddenly, I couldn't access most of my database entries. I went back to Browse mode, like the book told me to do, and still couldn't see them.
   
   Finally, after much digging, I found the crucial step I had missed, buried in the smaller, italicized text of the gargantuan paragraph accompanying Figure 1-17. Inconsistencies like this make the book a tough slog.
   
   I just brushed up on my Access 2003 (I haven't used it in 7 years) with one of those procedure-based illustrated books. It took me 3 hours to get through the 250-page book. It took me about an hour to get through chapter 1 (27 pages) of this book.
   
   
   I recommend downloading the examples from their website (I doubt you got a CD-ROM with your book). See the Missing CD-ROM link on this book's web page.



4. This is a thorough review of how to set up various database features of the Filemaker system. Like many such manuals I have had in the past, I found myself reading and re-reading instructions feeling there must be clearer, better ways to instruct someone on the various procedures of this fine database software. Nevertheless this reader got over some difficult spots in setting up his database and gives the book a positive review...



5. FileMaker Pro 9 is one of the most intuitive and user-friendly database programs available. But, as with all database programs, it is capable of so much that it is practically impossible for the typical user to deduce all of its functionality simply by searching the program's multiple menus.
   
   Enter FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual - another edition of the Missing Manual series designed to enlighten non-technical persons on highly technical subjects.
   
   The main selling point of the series is that it is very simple to read. O'Reilly's writers are also extremely knowledgeable in the subject area. Geoff Coffey, has been a FileMaker Pro trainer and consultant for over 10 years. Susan Prosser is also a FileMaker consultant, as well as a database program creator. Along with the Missing Manual creative team, these authors impart their wealth of knowledge in a way that anyone could understand. And since they aren't part of FileMaker, Inc., they aren't afraid to point out any of the software's problems.
   
   When comparing FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual to the user's guide supplied in the software's box, several differences are notable. The biggest is size: the Missing Manual is wider, taller, and much thicker. So if you just need a quick introduction to the program, this book might not be what you need. Learning a program as extensive as FileMaker Pro takes time, and delving through the Missing Manual is going to take a lot of it. But if you want to get the most out of FileMaker Pro, then the user's guide just isn't enough. The Missing Manual also notably uses less complicated language, has more example images, and presents a intuitive flow of information than the user's guide.
   
   One of the biggest benefits of FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual is the online support. Armed with just the software and user's guide, you have to learn from scratch. The Missing Manual, on the other hand, offers several pre-built databases that it guides you through. This not only gives you an example to work with while learning, but also shows you various ways that your final databases could be built and organized.
   
   The indexing is also much more detailed in the Missing Manual. So if you ever forget how to work a specific function of the program, the answer is a quick look-up away, though there are several instances in which the index reference the wrong section of the book (but the right page number). This is probably due to a late chapter reorganization before publishing.
   
   While the current Missing Manual is well supported with examples, it does not, as yet, support any new software updates being offered by FileMaker, Inc.. In other words, the book is written for the FileMaker Pro 9 program right out of the box. If the company puts out any updates that alter the software, then you need to do your own research to figure out the changes. Also, when FileMaker Pro 10 becomes available, there is no smaller Missing Manual explaining just those changes - you'll need to pick up a new edition. So if you're not new to the FileMaker Pro software, these manuals might be more than you need.
   
   I found FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual to be perfect for someone just starting to work with database programs. It's step-by-step process will have you building your first personal or professional database in no time!